The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly, to a cooling-heating combination type air conditioner capable of improving cooling and heating efficiency, in which the degree of ventilation may be freely adjusted depending upon the condition of indoor air, with no an additional ventilation equipment being provided, in which waste energy contained in the discharged air and condensate water produced in an evaporator is effectively recycled, and in which a circulation course of a coolant is optimized upon changeover between cooling and heating.
As well known in the art, a vapor compression-type cooling system capable of functioning as a heat pump when actuating in a reverse cycle is greatly increasing its popularity in the recent, since a restricted indoor space can be efficiently utilized by selectively carrying out cooling or heating of a room without separate installation of a cooler and a heater if a cooling-heating combination-type air conditioner is installed to obtain cooling and heat pump cycles in a single apparatus.
FIGS. 1 and 2 are conceptual views of an operation cycle of a heat pump and cooling-heating combination-type air conditioner, in which FIG. 1 illustrates a circulation process in cooling, and FIG. 2 illustrates a circulation process in heating. As shown in FIG. 1, where coolant exhausted from a compressor 1 is circulated in the air conditioner in the order of a four-way valve 2, an outdoor heat exchanger 3, an expansion valve 4 and an indoor heat exchanger 5, the indoor heat exchanger 5 functions as an evaporator so that a cold liquid coolant introduced into the indoor heat exchanger 5 sucks heat from the indoor air to evaporate into gas while flowing through the inside of the indoor heat exchanger 5, thereby cooling the indoor air. As shown in FIG. 2, where the four-way valve 2 is switched so that the coolant exhausted from the compressor 1 is circulated in the air conditioner in the order of the four-way valve 2, the indoor heat exchanger 5, the expansion valve 4 and the outdoor heat exchanger 3, the indoor heat exchanger 5 functions as a condenser so that hot gaseous coolant introduced into the indoor heat exchanger 5 radiates heat into the indoor air to condense into liquid while flowing through the inside of the indoor heat exchanger 5, thereby heating the indoor air.
In the heat pump and cooling-heating combination-type air conditioner, the outdoor heat exchanger is generally installed outdoor as separately manufactured from an indoor unit and disadvantageously consumes a large amount of time and endeavor for treatment and installation. Although several types of air conditioners have been proposed each of which has an indoor heat exchanger and an outdoor heat exchanger in a single housing in order to overcome these problems, they have not been put to practical use yet since their have complicated constructions and are expensive.
Further, where a ventilation function is added to an apparatus to actively ventilate indoor air, the apparatus is increased in weight and size and complicated in construction thereby elevating manufacturing cost. Also there is a problem that cooling-heating efficiency is very low since this apparatus fails to effectively recycle thermal energy contained in cooled or heated air which is exhausted from the room in ventilation.
As set forth above, the indoor heat exchanger and the outdoor heat exchanger function as an evaporator and a condenser, respectively, in cooling operation. The outdoor heat exchanger 3 for receiving coolant in gaseous state and discharging the same in liquid state has a number of tubes 33 fixed to a frame 34 for connecting between cylindrical headers 31 and 32 and heat exchange fins between tubes. In the indoor heat exchanger 5 functioning as the evaporator, if a header is installed in the inlet side, liquid coolant introduced into the header in the inlet side through the expansion valve 4 collects in a lower portion of the header owing to gravity without feeding to tubes in a higher portion of the header thereby dropping cooling efficiency. In order to prevent this problem, the indoor heat exchanger replaces the header in the inlet side with a distributor 51 for uniformly introducing liquid coolant into each of the tubes. The distributor 51 is free from bias of liquid coolant since it is smaller in height and volume compared to the header.
According to this construction, as shown in FIG. 1, in introducing liquid coolant toward the indoor heat exchanger 5 functioning as an evaporator in cooling during summer, liquid coolant is uniformly fed into each of the tubes via the distributor 51 to elevate cooling efficiency. However, where this apparatus is converted into a heating mode during winter as shown in FIG. 2, the indoor heat exchanger 5 functioning as the condenser receives gaseous coolant having a high temperature and pressure and then discharges liquid coolant having a high temperature and pressure is discharged while the outdoor heat exchanger 3 functioning as the evaporator receives liquid coolant having a low temperature and pressure flown from the expansion valve 4 and then discharges gaseous liquid. Liquid coolant introduced into the header 32 in the inlet side of the outdoor heat exchanger 3 is collected in a lower portion of the header under gravity. This insufficiently feeds to the tubes in a high portion of the header so that liquid coolant may not have a sufficient amount of heat exchange with the ambient air. Also the distributor 51 having a low volume and micro tubes in the outlet side of the indoor heat exchanger 5 increase conduit resistance in respect to high liquid coolant discharged from the indoor heat exchanger. These things coact to remarkably degrade heating efficiency.
Further, in conversion of the cooling and heating functions, gaseous coolant conduits exchange their function with liquid coolant conduits so that gas conduits convert into liquid conduits while liquid conduits convert into gas conduits. Thus it is difficult to obtain the optimum conduit features according to coolant state and thus coolant does not smoothly flow frequently causing breakdown.
The present invention has been made to solve the foregoing problems and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an air conditioner having an outdoor heat exchanger and an indoor heat exchanger in a single housing, by which the degree of ventilation can be freely adjusted in the range of 0 to 100% using a simple construction without any additional ventilation equipment while energy in indoor air which is exhausted in ventilation can be effectively recycled.
It is another object of the invention to provide an air conditioner capable of optimizing a circulation course of coolant according to cooling-heating conversion to remarkably improve cooling-heating efficiency thereby downsizing the apparatus and preventing breakdown of conduit trains according to cooling-heating conversion.
According to an aspect of the invention to obtain the above objects, it is provided an air conditioner including a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, expansion valves and an indoor heat exchanger, and carrying out cooling and heating processes by switching circulation direction of a coolant through a four-way valve, the apparatus comprising: an indoor air exhaust chamber having the indoor heat exchanger for performing heat exchange between the coolant and air, an intake blower for supplying air in a room, and an indoor air outlet functioning as a channel through which the intake blower feeds air into the room; an outdoor air exhaust chamber having the outdoor heat exchanger for performing heat exchange between the coolant and the air, an exhaust blower for exhausting the air, and an outdoor air outlet functioning as a channel through which the exhaust blower exhausts the air to the outdoors; an indoor air suction chamber connected to the indoor air exhaust chamber and the outdoor air exhaust chamber via an indoor air circulation damper and an indoor air exhaust damper, respectively, which are adjustable in opening ratio, and having an indoor air suction port functioning as a channel for introducing indoor air which is sucked under suction force of the intake blower and/or the exhaust blower; an outdoor air suction chamber connected to the indoor air exhaust chamber, and the outdoor air exhaust chamber via an outdoor air feeding damper and an outdoor air exhaust damper, respectively, which are adjustable in opening ratio, and having an outdoor air suction port functioning as a channel for introducing outdoor air which is sucked under suction force of the exhaust blower and/or the intake blower; and a single housing for containing the indoor air exhaust chamber, the outdoor air exhaust chamber, the indoor air suction chamber and the outdoor air suction chamber.
In the air conditioner of the invention having the above construction, the quantity of exhausting indoor air can be freely regulated by adjusting the relative opening ratio of the indoor air circulation damper and the indoor air exhaust damper while the quantity of introducing outdoor air can be freely regulated by adjusting the relative opening ratio of the outdoor air feeding damper and the outdoor air exhaust damper so as to carry out the optimum air conditioning according the condition of indoor and outdoor air. Also, indoor and outdoor air can be distributed and fed toward a room and the outdoors under suction force of the intake blower and the exhaust blower without installation of separate fan for ventilation so as to minimize the size and weight of the apparatus.
Further, direct heat exchange is established between the outdoor heat exchanger functioning as the hot condenser and exhaust air for ventilation having a relatively low temperature in cooling ventilation while direct heat exchange is established between the outdoor heat exchanger functioning as the cold evaporator and exhaust air for ventilation having a relatively high temperature so that thermal energy can be recycled by the maximum quantity from exhaust air for ventilation.
It is preferred that the indoor air exhaust chamber is installed in the housing adjacent to an upper end thereof, the indoor air outlet exposed in a front portion of the housing, wherein the outdoor air exhaust chamber is installed in the housing adjacent to a lower end thereof, the outdoor air outlet exposed in a rear portion of the housing, wherein the indoor air suction chamber is installed between the indoor air exhaust chamber and the outdoor air exhaust chamber with the indoor air circulation chamber as a partition from the indoor air exhaust chamber and the outdoor air exhaust chamber as a partition from the outdoor air exhaust chamber, the indoor air suction port exposed in a front portion of the housing, and wherein the outdoor air suction chamber is installed in the rear of the indoor air suction chamber between the indoor air exhaust chamber and the outdoor air exhaust chamber with the outdoor air feeding chamber as a partition from the indoor air exhaust chamber and the outdoor air exhaust chamber as a partition from the outdoor air exhaust chamber, in which the outdoor air suction port is exposed in a rear portion of the housing.
The above construction can more simplify and downsize the apparatus of the invention as well as efficiently utilize a restricted floor space so that the apparatus can be applied to a compact air conditioner as a home appliance.
In the air conditioner of the invention, the indoor air suction chamber is L-shaped to form an extended portion bounding on a front portion of the outdoor air exhaust chamber, the indoor air suction port disposed in the extended portion adjacent to a lower end thereof, whereby air exhausted into the room via the indoor air outlet can be sucked in an upper portion of the apparatus and air sucked via the indoor air suction port can be sucked in a lower portion of the apparatus so that any interference between exhaust air and suction air is avoided thereby enabling effective circulation of indoor air.
According to another aspect of the invention to obtain the above objects, the air conditioner of the invention may further comprise: a condensate water reservoir under the indoor heat exchanger and having a condensate water pump for discharging condensate water from the condensate water reservoir under a high pressure; a condensate water outlet under the outdoor heat exchanger; and a condensate water injector over the outdoor heat exchanger, the condensate water injector communicating with the condensate water pump in a discharging side thereof via a condensate water feeding conduit for injecting condensate water from the condensate water pump toward the outdoor heat exchanger, whereby condensate water produced in the indoor heat exchanger functioning as the evaporator in cooling can be actively utilized for cooling the outdoor heat exchanger to elevate cooling efficiency. Further, if the condensate water pump is simply operated when the level of condensate water reaches a given value, a time period of pump suspension is prolonged dropping the cooling efficiency of the outdoor heat exchanger owing to condensate water. It is preferred that the air conditioner of the invention further comprises a control unit for turning on/off the condensate water pump for a given time period if detection means shows the level of condensate water at least a reference value in order to uniformly regulate the condensate water pump for a long time period.
According to a further another aspect of the invention to obtain the above objects, in the air conditioner of the invention, the outdoor heat exchanger and the indoor heat exchanger each includes: a pair of headers to which coolant conduits are connected, respectively, and a number of heat exchange tubes coupled between the headers for functioning as channels through which coolant introduced to one header is fed to the other header, and the air conditioner may further comprise: hollow distributors each disposed between each of the indoor and outdoor heat exchangers and each of the expansion valves, the each distributor having a first end coupled to a coolant conduit and a second end coupled to a number of distribution tubes, wherein the distribution tubes of the each distributor are coupled to ends of the heat exchange tubes of the each heat exchanger, respectively, so as to form a coolant cycle so that coolant is distributed into corresponding ones of the heat exchange tubes via the coolant conduits of the each distributor when introduced into the each heat exchanger from each of the expansion valves, and discharged via the coolant conduits of the each header when discharged toward the each expansion valve via the each heat exchanger in the cooling and heating processes according to switching of the four-way valve. With the air conditioner of the invention, regardless of whether the air conditioner is operated in a cooling or heating cycle, gaseous coolant having a large value of specific volume is circulated only through the coolant conduits of the headers, liquid coolant introduced toward the heat exchangers is uniformly distributed to the heat exchange tubes via the distributor and the distribution tubes, and liquid coolant exhausted from the heat exchangers is exhausted via the coolant conduits of the headers so as to constitute the cooling/heating cycle with the minimum quantity of conduit resistance. Cooling and heating efficiency of the cooling-heating combination type air conditioner can be improved at the same time so as to downsize the apparatus as well as prevent breakdown of conduit trains according to cooling-heating conversion.